Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table

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Similar questions arise in Emergency Admissions: Memoirs of an Ambulance Driver by Kit Wharton, which documents the people he has helped and ferried since joining the ambulance service in 2003. Wharton’s father was treated in the John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford, Westaby’s domain, after a massive stroke in 1995 and kept alive in a vegetative state for 18 months. “Would it have been better to let him go?” Wharton asks. “What do I know?” But we do know. We, the public, want the medical profession to break the rules, except when we don’t – and therein lies a huge ethical dilemma.

Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and De…

Book Genre: Autobiography, Biography, Biography Memoir, Health, Medical, Medicine, Memoir, Nonfiction, Science These cases are fascinating if poignant to read. There is an amount of medical detail included but the language used is accessible. Westaby’s confidence in his abilities and willingness to take risks not only saved many of the lives he held in his hands but also led others in his field to do the same. These world class doctors worked together, sharing techniques and outcomes for the good of their patients as well as furthering their own careers.

We stop life and start it again, making things better, taking calculated risks.” Although the 2017 Wellcome Prize shortlist has only just been announced, this is my early favorite for the 2018 prize (for fiction and nonfiction on a medical theme). What Henry Marsh did for brain surgery in Do No Harm, Westaby does for cardiac surgery with this vivid, compassionate set of stories culled from a long career at the forefront of artificial heart technology.

Fragile roofs - CITB Fragile roofs - CITB

In medicine, life and death are constantly intersecting. Live are fragile. While doctors strive to save every life, there are still times when even their best efforts fall short. It is in times like these that it is so tempting to descend into a maelstrom of despondency. Yet, it is also in times like these that strength must prevail, and one must carry on in spite of regret and failure.The stakes could not be higher in this bloody, muscular and adrenaline-charged memoir from a pioneering heart surgeon... at points it made my own heart race dangerously. ‘Surgeons are meant to be objective,’ Westaby tells himself, ‘not human’. What makes this book so fascinating, and so moving, is the terrible tension between these necessary qualities.’– Sunday Times A brilliant, thought provoking memoir chronicling renowned heart surgeon Westaby as he details his life and career. Starting from humble beginnings, the author challenges the perception that only public schoolboys get to be surgeons. Richmond, Caroline (18 December 2007). "Peter Houghton". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 4 January 2008. Prepare the individual for any changes in routine by explaining these changes ahead of time, possibly by using visual signs. Marsh and Westaby are likely the last of the pioneering NHS surgeons. Politicians would rather create lists and targets and 7 day GPs that no one has asked for. Why would any skilled doctor want to work in an environment where they are prevented from doing what's best for their patients?

Fragile Lives by Stephen Westaby; Emergency Admissions by Kit

ALCAPA手术技术有局限，失败率也很高，于是我趁飞行的时间思考别的手术方案。等到飞机巡航到爪哇上空时，我已经设计好了新的方案。我是最后一个上飞机的，到伦敦时又成了第一个下来的。就在我等待飞机连接空桥、打开舱门的时候，客舱服务总监给我递上一瓶香槟，祝我好运。她轻声说：“我姐姐的孩子就是您动的手术。”世界真小。我谢了她。Raw and moving... the writing is thrilling. Fragile Lives is a frank and absorbing memoir by a man who has done about as much good to his fellow human beings as it is possible to do in one lifetime.’– The Times, Book of the Week Westaby is an old-fashioned hero-doctor, gruff but compassionate, personally ambitious in the name of saving lives. His book is a notably down-to-earth instance of the genre, but ultimately it’s impossible not to admire this seemingly nerveless miracle-worker. Outstanding medical books from around the world recognised at this year's prestigious BMA Medical Book Awards" . Retrieved 27 November 2018. Steve Westaby is a celebrated world-famous heart surgeon who is renowned for being the first surgeon in history to fit a patient with a new type of artificial heart. During his 35-year career as a surgeon he worked at several of the UK’s top hospitals and performed over 11,000 heart operations. He won the Ray C. Fish Award for Scientific Achievement (2004). In 2004 Steve Westaby was featured in the BBC documentary Your Life in Their Hands, which is a long-running series on the subject of surgery.